Bronze Statues and Art Collecting-A Beginners Guide
Bronze Statues and Art Collecting-A Beginners Guide
As bronze statues have become more popular and the art market for original bronze statues continues to set record auction prices. Many foundries have gone into the business of recasting fakes. Often these statues are taken directly from finished original pieces. These inexpensive copies are smaller and not as crisp and fine as the original. To the experienced art collector they come across as lifeless and lack the warmth and emotional details of an original. Moreover, as strange as it might sound, these bronzes do not have the right feel. The surface of a fine, original bronze is very smooth and warm to the touch.
It is these forgeries that are most confusing to the new art collector. There are two types of copies on the market today. Those that are produced by reputable companies, and those which are not. Reputable companies advertise the statues as "recasts" or copies of an original bronze statue. They identify on the statue there foundry stamp and the model of the casting. non reputable companies either do not identify or mark them with unauthentic original foundry stamps or artist signatures. They then mislead the buyer and advertise them as original pieces of art.
Most experienced art dealers and auctioneers easily recognize and advertise these reproductions for what they are. However there are many that have made millions passing on excellent forgeries as originals. Thousands of fake bronze statues are passed to the public every year.
The most famous incident happened in 2002 a French dealer was busted in a ring that netted him nearly Sixty million in sales from faking nearly four thousand originals from popular artist such as Remington, Degas and Carpeaux. The forger, simply made castings from many originals. He then applied signatures and foundry stamps from the time period as to when they were originally cast. Through his associates in the art world he consigned them to auction houses and private dealers as originals. Only a third of the forgeries sold have been confiscated. The rest are in collections, museums and in dealer shops waiting to be sold again in the future.